It beats my muddy one hands down 
"Bronze Age Combat: An Experimental Approach"
This is the rest of the message; thought it might interest some folks
M
Call for Papers – Prehistoric Warfare: Experimental and Analytical Approaches
XVII World UISPP Congress – Burgos (Spain), 1st-7th September 2014
Andrea Dolfini (Newcastle University, UK): andrea.dolfini@ncl.ac.uk
Ben Roberts (Durham University, UK): benjamin.roberts@durham.ac.uk
Christian Horn (Kiel University, Germany): chorn@gshdl.uni-kiel.de
Abstract
The last twenty years have seen a renewed interest in the study of prehistoric warfare including, among others, (1) examinations of the combat injuries detectable on human skeletons; (2) body-centred reappraisals of the image and self-understanding of the prehistoric warrior based on funerary evidence and rock art; (3) martial-art approaches that have tested possible uses of prehistoric weapons and armour in combat experiments; (4) and use-wear analysis of the combat marks visible on prehistoric stone and bronze weapons.
Despite the giant leap forward made by the discipline in the last two decades, two overarching problems still loom large in prehistoric combat studies: experiment design and the formal analysis of wear marks. The first problem encompasses a number of unresolved questions concerning how researchers can meaningfully design laboratory and field experiments using long-disappeared weapons and long-forgotten fighting styles. The reliance on historic (usually late and post-Medieval) and ethnographic sources is widespread in ancient combat studies, but the extent to which these may reflect prehistoric combat is presently unclear. The second problem involves the dearth of replicable analytical protocols and procedures for the use-wear analysis of ancient weapons and armour, and the lack of shared databases of combat marks. The problem here is that the absence of an open debate about how wear studies should be conducted and published makes the analytical results poorly comparable with each other. Both problems, together with the lack of targeted super-regional osteological studies of combat injuries, make it difficult to answer pressing questions regarding the nature and frequency of interpersonal violence in prehistoric times, and how fighting techniques might have changed from the Palaeolithic onwards.
The papers presented at this session will seek to explore problems concerning warfare and combat in world prehistory from the Palaeolithic onwards, paying special attention to (1) how to conduct research-oriented field and laboratory experiments with replicas of prehistoric weapons and armour; (2) how to approach the analysis of the combat marks detectable on stone, bone and metal weapons and armour; (3) and how to examine osteological markers of interpersonal violence in order to address specific questions regarding the frequency and intensity of prehistoric combat, and the use of identifiable fighting styles.
Papers
If you wish to take part in the session could you please submit your proposal to the session organisers and the conference organisers (via the UISPP website www.burgos2014uispp.com) including the following information: title, 250 word abstract, author(s), e-mail, affiliation, and keywords. The deadline is 30th April 2014. By 31st May 2014, all participants are required to inform the congress organisers in which session they want their paper/poster to be included.
Technical information: uispp2014@viajeseci.es
Scientific information: uispp2014@fundacionatapuerca.es
Dr Andrea Dolfini
Lecturer in Later Prehistory
Director of CIAS
School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Armstrong Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU - UK
andrea.dolfini@ncl.ac.uk
+44 (0)191 208 3402
Bronze Age Combat: An Experimental Approach
Case Bastione Archaeological Project
"Bronze Age Combat: An Experimental Approach"
This is the rest of the message; thought it might interest some folks
M
Call for Papers – Prehistoric Warfare: Experimental and Analytical Approaches
XVII World UISPP Congress – Burgos (Spain), 1st-7th September 2014
Andrea Dolfini (Newcastle University, UK): andrea.dolfini@ncl.ac.uk
Ben Roberts (Durham University, UK): benjamin.roberts@durham.ac.uk
Christian Horn (Kiel University, Germany): chorn@gshdl.uni-kiel.de
Abstract
The last twenty years have seen a renewed interest in the study of prehistoric warfare including, among others, (1) examinations of the combat injuries detectable on human skeletons; (2) body-centred reappraisals of the image and self-understanding of the prehistoric warrior based on funerary evidence and rock art; (3) martial-art approaches that have tested possible uses of prehistoric weapons and armour in combat experiments; (4) and use-wear analysis of the combat marks visible on prehistoric stone and bronze weapons.
Despite the giant leap forward made by the discipline in the last two decades, two overarching problems still loom large in prehistoric combat studies: experiment design and the formal analysis of wear marks. The first problem encompasses a number of unresolved questions concerning how researchers can meaningfully design laboratory and field experiments using long-disappeared weapons and long-forgotten fighting styles. The reliance on historic (usually late and post-Medieval) and ethnographic sources is widespread in ancient combat studies, but the extent to which these may reflect prehistoric combat is presently unclear. The second problem involves the dearth of replicable analytical protocols and procedures for the use-wear analysis of ancient weapons and armour, and the lack of shared databases of combat marks. The problem here is that the absence of an open debate about how wear studies should be conducted and published makes the analytical results poorly comparable with each other. Both problems, together with the lack of targeted super-regional osteological studies of combat injuries, make it difficult to answer pressing questions regarding the nature and frequency of interpersonal violence in prehistoric times, and how fighting techniques might have changed from the Palaeolithic onwards.
The papers presented at this session will seek to explore problems concerning warfare and combat in world prehistory from the Palaeolithic onwards, paying special attention to (1) how to conduct research-oriented field and laboratory experiments with replicas of prehistoric weapons and armour; (2) how to approach the analysis of the combat marks detectable on stone, bone and metal weapons and armour; (3) and how to examine osteological markers of interpersonal violence in order to address specific questions regarding the frequency and intensity of prehistoric combat, and the use of identifiable fighting styles.
Papers
If you wish to take part in the session could you please submit your proposal to the session organisers and the conference organisers (via the UISPP website www.burgos2014uispp.com) including the following information: title, 250 word abstract, author(s), e-mail, affiliation, and keywords. The deadline is 30th April 2014. By 31st May 2014, all participants are required to inform the congress organisers in which session they want their paper/poster to be included.
Technical information: uispp2014@viajeseci.es
Scientific information: uispp2014@fundacionatapuerca.es
Dr Andrea Dolfini
Lecturer in Later Prehistory
Director of CIAS
School of History, Classics and Archaeology
Armstrong Building
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU - UK
andrea.dolfini@ncl.ac.uk
+44 (0)191 208 3402
Bronze Age Combat: An Experimental Approach
Case Bastione Archaeological Project
